Principal's Report 

& School News

From the Principal...

I trust everyone made every effort to enjoy the recent weekend and those spectacular sunny breaks. The Pupil Free day on Friday allowed staff an opportunity to regather and prepare for the lockdown period ahead of us. We have a number of new staff and staff on leave, so it was imperative that teams gathered to support each other and share positive strategies and approaches from 2020. I commend all staff for their flexibility and dedication at another uncertain time in the school calendar.

Unfortunately, a number of events and planned operational matters have had to be rescheduled or postponed. This includes a whole school Occupational and Health (OH&S) audit which was scheduled for last Friday. I thank all OH&S team members for their input and work. It will hold us in good stead moving forward, including the evacuation drill which provided valuable insights and information for our OH&S team. Unfortunately, the completion of the swimming program from Years 3 to 5 has also been put on hold until we know further information about rescheduling with Waves.

Building Update

There have been a number of check-ins and final building works being prepared for Ormond PS. This includes cabinetry work in the Art Room to have a fully functional and refurbished STEAM block. The Art teacher has been working with the architects to ensure any changes are well suited to such a specialised teaching space. 

Attitudes to School Survey

“WE WANT OUR STUDENTS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!” 

We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and are conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of our school. The Attitudes to School Survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist schools in gaining an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Our school will use the survey results to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience. Students from Year 4 to 6, at our school will participate in the survey. Your child will complete the survey online during school hours using a purpose built secure online survey tool.  It is important to note that we are not in any way “testing” your child. Your child has the right to refuse or withdraw from the survey at any point before, during, or after completion of the survey. Your child will be provided with a unique login to complete the survey. 

The student login is an assigned identifier that may be used to link data for statistical and research purposes only. All responses to the survey are kept anonymous in the response file. Personal identification data will not be recorded in the survey response file. This ensures that the confidentiality of your child’s responses is protected at all times.

This year the Attitudes to School survey will be conducted at our school over the period Friday June 4th to Friday June 11th. The survey only takes 20 minutes to complete and occurs during your child's class time. The survey results will be reported back to the school before the end of Term 2. All survey data that is made available in reports are for groups of students only so that no individual student can be identified. 

Our school will share a summary of the results of the survey with staff, school council and the wider community via our newsletter. In previous years we have used the survey results for discussion at school leadership meetings and with the entire staff to develop initiatives around student voice and agency. These initiatives are outlined in our current strategic plan and will be uploaded to our school website. If you would like more information, please speak to your child’s teacher or visit: 

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/improvement/Pages/performsurveyat.aspx

COVID Update

All students will be learning from home from 28 May – 3 June, except for students in the following categories

• Children where both parents and or carers are considered authorised workers as listed who cannot work from home, work for an essential provider and where no other supervision arrangements can be made:
• Where there are two parents/carers, both must be essential workers, working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision.
• For single parents/ carers, the essential worker must be working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision.
• Vulnerable children, including:
  • children in out-of-home care
  • children deemed vulnerable by a government agency, funded family or family violence service, and assessed as requiring education and care outside the family home
  • children identified by a school or early childhood service as vulnerable, (including via referral from a government agency, or funded family or family violence service, homeless or youth justice service or mental health or other health service)

On-site supervision

On-site supervision will be available at all government schools, but only for students in the categories listed above, for the purpose of providing continuity of teaching, learning and support.

When on-site supervision is provided, hand sanitiser will be available at the entry points to classrooms and education will be provided on hand hygiene. Physical distancing will be implemented in classrooms to the extent feasible and unwell students will be excluded from attending. 

The learning program delivered on-site will be the same as the learning program delivered to students undertaking remote learning. Students attending on-site will be supervised by staff on-site but follow the teaching and learning program provided by their classroom teacher.

Professional Learning Communities (PLC)

Ormond PS has successfully been accepted in to the Professional Learning Communities Intake with Gardenvale PS, Bentleigh West PS, Sandringham PS, Tucker Rd PS, Elsternwick PS and Beaumaris North PS. This is a wonderful opportunity for our community, even if we are the smallest in terms of enrolments of all those listed schools. 

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) is an approach to school improvement in which groups of teachers work collaboratively at the school level to improve student outcomes. The quality of teaching is the most powerful lever schools have to increase student learning. Evidence from high-performing school systems around the world shows teaching quality improves when teachers work together. The Victorian Professional Learning Communities initiative will provide training and ongoing support to implement PLCs in all Victorian government schools. 

The Victorian PLC model

The Victorian PLC model builds the cultures, processes and practices in schools that privilege success for every student. The model facilitates an ongoing sharing of knowledge, collaborative planning and targeted teaching that accelerates student learning outcomes. Key to the success of this work is the capacity for these practices to build collective efficacy (effect size of 1.57) and shift teacher mindsets, i.e. teachers believe that they are responsible for the success of every student in their school and, more importantly, that they are capable, collectively, to progress the learning of all students regardless of their background.

Support for PLC schools

The Department of Education and Training (DET) provides PLC schools with a comprehensive program of professional learning and a suite of implementation supports. These include:

• ongoing, consistent support from your dedicated PLC Manager and Practice Instructors
• eight days of Core Professional Learning (CPL), including CRT funding, for identified staff
• ongoing, differentiated professional learning opportunities at an Area, Region and state-wide level
• coaching and mentoring from the state’s 34 PLC Link Schools
• participation in developmental and impact evaluation research to inform ongoing PLC best-practice
• a wealth of PLC specific resources

The school leadership team is delighted with this announcement and we are currently constructing the PLC team of 5 that will go on to ensure the best possible outcomes for the school. All schools must complete this professional training by 2024, yet Ormond PS has managed to access this support far earlier. Further information will be shared with the community as we begin the PLC journey with staff.

School Tours - Covid Restrictions Pending

School tours have commenced and we are seeing great interest in enrolling at the school in 2021. Families are interested in looking at the types of programs we run and observing the children working in their classrooms to get a feel for the school and its’ culture. It is a big decision on where to send your children for their first year of schooling and this is the first step in the process for parents with young children heading in to Foundation in 2022. A full list of dates and times are available on the website or in this newsletter (pg3). Bookings are essential, and are limited to 5 adults per tour. Please contact the office to book your tour on 03 9578 1327. 

Kerri McLeod

Principal

Out of School Hours Care

Covid Lockdown Care - Before/After On-sIte Program

Before & After School Care is also available for those students attending On-Site Supervision during remote Learning. If you have not used the program before, you will be required to complete the attached enrolment form. Please text 0439 111 026 to book. Please include your child's 

• Child's Name
• Date & Session time (Before or After Care) required

Jumper Rule

During the colder weather in term two and three, we require children to wear a jumper outside. Children will be allowed to remove their jumper/jacket, if they are participating in sport or physical activity. Parents can exclude their children from this rule by providing a note stating their child is not required to wear a jumper outside during cold weather.

Donations

We are replenishing our dress up and dramatic play box. We would appreciate, any donation of the following items. A sturdy safe long mirror, hats, jewellery, bangles, strings of beads, costumes & clothing. 

Note of Appreciation

I would like to thank, the Arbaitman family for their generous donation of white paper & art & craft supplies. The children will enjoy these resources. Thankyou

April Kopitz

Out of School Hours Coordinator

Thank You

Thank you to Parents & Friends who contributed $6000 of their fundraising monies for the purchase of the Fountas & Pinnell Classroom™ Interactive Read-Aloud Collections across the school. Each collection contains text sets of four to six high-quality picture books that represent a variety of authors and illustrators, topics, genres, themes, and text structures. 

The Year 3s are currently investigating modern and traditional fairytales with the understanding that a defining characteristic of fantasy is that the story could never happen in the real world.

Below are some examples of their work.

Library News

Scholastic Bookclub Issue 4 orders close Sunday 6th June. All orders are made online directly with Scholastic. 

Second Hand Uniform Stall

When:  Friday 4th June 3.15pm-4pm 

Where:  Portable Classroom (Ms Bell’s) second from left 

Prices: $2 to $10 per item CASH ONLY. Bring coins or small denominations only as limited change available. 

All attendees will need to check in with the QR code and social distance at all times as well as following any other government guidelines in place at the time of the event.

Please note this is subject to change based on any updated advice from the Victorian State Government, Department of Health and Department of Education 

Working Bee Saturday June 19th 1pm to 4pm

School Council would welcome any time you and your children could contribute on Saturday June 19th to keep our school looking tidy and cared for. 

Activities will include 

• tidying the yard and oval after the Autumn leaf drop
• planting a new Indigenous Garden in front of the STEAM room
• freshening up the Ruby St aspect

Please note this is subject to change based on any updated advice from the Victorian State Government, Department of Health and Department of Education 

Year 2 News

The Year 2 students had a wonderful time at the Shrine of Remembrance. They were able to take in lots of interesting information about the Shrine, Wars and the importance of world peace. Below are some statements from our Year 2 students. 

Kodie: "The eternal flame went out twice, once when a bulldozer cut the gas pipe and secondly when there was a huge hailstorm." 

Ben : "There was a box with receipts from the community. These receipts were from schools around Victoria who donated money to build he Shrine. Our tour guide said, “There probably is a receipt from Ormond Primary School as our school is over 100 years old."

Eden : "In the Crypt there are two statues of soldiers, one stands for the father and the other for the son. This area of the shrine is like a tomb for all the soldiers who lost their lives during World War I and II."

Lachie: "The Victorian Medal is a medal given for bravery to the soldiers. It was made from a cannon, and it can’t melt." 

Seorin: "The Shrine of Remembrance is interesting as I saw what the nurses and soldiers wore."

Dennis: "There are statues next to the Shrine that lets us know more about the war."

Lewis: "The Shrine is important because it is a place to remember the soldiers who did not come home."

Wendy: "I learnt how important it is to remember the people who fought in the wars."

Youn: "I think the Shrine of Remembrance is a good place to pay attention to the ANZACS."

Year 4 News

Twice a Term we get all our wonderful Year 4 students together for a meeting. In Term 1 our meetings focused on being safe and responsible at school. At our Year 4 meeting on Monday being respectful and showing integrity were the topics we discussed. We agreed that treating others the way you want to be treated is respect in a nutshell. As a group we decided that behaving with integrity is to be honest, work hard, look for the good in others and that no one is perfect and when you make mistakes, learn from them and try again. 

Year 5 News

Year 5 students visited Sovereign Hill, Ballarat as part of their history focus on the Gold Fields.

It was an early departure from Ormond P.S. and were blessed with ‘good’ weather for Ballarat at this time of the year. No need for thermals and an Antarctic proof jacket. 

The children began the day with a classroom lesson titled ‘Living in the Putrid Past’. It was fun lesson about what life was like on the Gold Fields. The children enjoyed the lesson. The children then ventured down to the creek to pan for gold and find their fortune…unfortunately not enough gold was panned to change anyone’s life! Better luck next time.

The children had an opportunity, after lunch, to peruse the shops and spend their money.

It was a great day of learning and overall a fun day was had by all.

We would like to thank our parent helpers for the day. Your assistance helped make the day. And a special ‘thank you’ to Sharelle for her invaluable assistance on the day.

PE & Sport News

District Cross Country Results

Congratulations to the 50 students from Year 3 to 6 that represented Ormond Primary School at the District Cross Country on Friday the 21st of May. It was a stunning May day, with perfect weather conditions. Ormond Primary School did extremely well to finish in 5th place out of the 8 schools in our District, which is our best result in many years! We had a large amount of parents watching and supporting our students, which was wonderful to see. The following students achieved outstanding results, finishing in the top 8 in their race and we wish them good luck as they now progress to the Division Event on Tuesday 15th of June, at Karkarook Park. Please note this is subject to change based on any updated advice from the Victorian State Government, Department of Health and Department of Education 

• Sophie A finished in 1st place in U/910 girls
• Gigi W finished in 2nd place in U9/10 girls
• Flynn W finished in 6th place in U9/10 boys.
• Luckshya M finished in 6th place in U/11 girls
• Evie H finished in 4th place in U/12 girls

Please Click the link below to view all the results.

https://www.webscorer.com/33387 

Ormond Run Club

After a successful preparation for the District Cross Country, where we had record numbers of students attending morning training sessions, we have decided to create an Ormond Run Club! We would like to invite all students from Year 3 to 6 who are interested in joining the run club, to attend trainings (after lockdown) on Tuesday mornings from 8:15am till 8:45am. The focus will on running and general fitness. We will be looking to give leadership opportunities to senior school students as mentors. 

We hope the run club will promote health and fitness at Ormond Primary School.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Georgia in Year 6 who has just returned from the Australian Gymnastics Championships on the Gold Coast.  

Georgia had a great competition finishing 6th overall in the Rhythmic Gymnastics Pre-junior (age 11-13) competition out of 24 competitors and played a significant part in the Victorian Team becoming National Champions. 3 of her 4 routines were counted towards the Victorian teams gold medal. Her group routine, performed with 4 other teammates in a synchronised routine, also won the National Gold Medal. 

OPS is very proud of this incredible achievement, well done Georgia!